


A Mother Knows

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated (TV 2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 10:03:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6150013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angie Dinkley understands more than her daughter thinks she does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chance Meeting

“Bye Mom!” Velma shouted as she rushed down the stairs for the door. “I’ll be home by midnight, promise!”

“Now wait just a minute sweetheart,” Angie Dinkley said, bustling out of the kitchen. She came into the living room just in time to see her daughter skitter to a halt just out of arm’s reach of the front door. “The last time you hung out with the gang on a Saturday night you got involved with a vampire ghost and didn’t get home until well past 2 AM. I don’t want that happening again.”

“That’s not going to happen tonight,” Velma said as she stared longingly at the door.

“Oh? I seem to recall you saying something to that effect the last three times you hung out with the gang,” Angie said, crossing her arms. “Someone always ends up hopelessly tangled in one of that Chiles boy’s nets.”

“I’m not hanging out with Fred, so that’s not going to happen,” Velma said. She took a step toward the door as if she thought Angie wouldn’t notice.

“Why not?” Angie asked, perking up at the new information. While Velma never liked sharing her plans with her mother, she seemed especially desperate to get out of telling her now. That meant whatever Velma was up to was especially juicy or else possibly dangerous. In either case a mother had to know. “Just having a girls’ night out with Daphne?”

“No…” Velma said slowly. “She and Fred have a date tonight. Look, Mom, I gotta go, you’re going to make me late.”

“So you’re just spending the night with Shaggy,” Angie concluded, breaking into a smile. “Is this by any chance, also a date?”

“Ugg, gross. No way, Mom, I’m totally over Shaggy,” Velma groaned, shuddering like Angie had just suggested bathing in raw egg. It was quite possibly the most typically teenager thing she had ever seen her daughter do. “Please don’t ever mention that horrible social misstep ever again. We both want it wiped from our memories.”

“Then where are you going and what are you doing tonight?” Angie demanded, feeling perplexed. She adored her daughter, but Velma didn’t have a lot of friends, nor did she make them easily. Most of her classmates were intimidated by her intelligence or her personality. Angie had yet to instill any patience for incompetence in her daughter and while she understood Velma’s frustrations, having a temper that flared up in response to typical human reactions would cause her trouble in the future. She needed to cooperate better. “You aren’t leaving this house until you answer all my questions, Velma. So the sooner you start talking, the sooner you can be on your way.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Velma grumbled, crossing her arms.

“Try me.”

Velma huffed and silently glared at her mother. Angie did not understand what Velma’s problem was. All she wanted to know was what her daughter was up to tonight. That was a reasonable motherly worry, especially when Velma had a habit of breaking her curfew while capturing criminals in oversized monster costumes. It wasn’t like she was trying to read her diary, though Angie had to admit she still did that on occasion. She didn’t like to invade Velma’s privacy like that, but it was the only way she ever found out what was happening in her daughter life. At least, it had been until she recently started writing in some sort of cipher. Looked a bit like a computer thing, which meant Angie was hopelessly lost. She didn’t know how to do anything with those infernal machines.

The standoff unexpectedly ended when there was a knock on the door. Velma opened it to reveal a young woman Angie vaguely recognized. Likely from a school function of one sort or another, she seemed to have more of an academic tinge than Velma’s other associates. At least, that’s what Angie assumed the girl had turned to, since she was a tall scraggly thing with what could pass for a bird’s nest on her head. If it weren’t for the glasses, thickest Angie had ever seen outside of her own family, she would have thought the girl was one of Shaggy’s relatives. All the Rodgers had perfect vision.

More interestingly, Velma seemed to light up when she saw the other girl. A smile spread across her face and she leaned in ever so slightly. Normally she couldn’t be bothered to look at anyone outside of the gang, which meant Angie needed to find out who this girl was. After all, she’d be thrilled if her little girl had made a new friend. She needed more of those. Angie suspected much of Velma’s sarcasm and troubling mystery solving tendencies derived from a lack of friends.

“I thought you were going to wait in the car,” Velma said after a long moment of just staring at the other woman.

“I was, but you were supposed to be out ten minutes ago,” she said. “I got worried something had come up and you’d canceled without telling me.”

“Never,” Velma said firmly. “I’m looking forward to this and I’d never bail without a word.” Her declaration left the other girl beaming at Velma, who nervously wrung her hands at the unexpected attention.

“Velma, why don’t you introduce me to your little friend,” Angie said, “and what you ladies are up to tonight?”

She still wasn’t about to let her daughter leave the house without telling her what she was doing. Last year’s multiple—albeit questionable—arrests had left her highly suspicious of Velma’s nighttime activities. At least all of her previous arrests had been thrown out by the judge when Sheriff Stone’s reason was revealed to be ‘she was an annoying pipsqueak,’ thankfully not illegal in Crystal Cove, but Angie didn’t want Velma behind bars. 

“Mom,” Velma hissed and flushed as if Angie had just suggested the most embarrassing thing in the entire universe.

“Those are perfectly reasonable questions, darling,” Angie said. “I ask the same questions whenever your little sister goes out and she never minds sharing with me.”

“That’s because Madelyn prattles constantly without a single thought in her head,” Velma grumbled, crossing her arms.

Angie pretended she didn’t hear her. Resuming the fight this girl’s arrival interrupted wouldn’t help the situation. She seemed to feel the same way, because after standing there awkwardly for a moment she reached out and squeezed Velma’s shoulders. Shockingly, Velma’s scowl melted away and she glanced back at her friend.

“I’m Marcie Fleach,” she said. “Velma and I have physics together.”

“I’m delighted to make your acquaintance,” Angie said, bustling up to pull her into a tight hug. The sudden embrace left Marcie off kilter, which was exactly what she intended. That was the best way to get information out of teenagers. “Now what are you girls up to tonight?”

“We’ve got physics homework, okay Mom?” Velma said. She pulled Marcie out of Angie’s grasp rather harder than she had any need to.

“It’s astronomy,” Marcie added, adjusting her glasses.

Velma brushed imaginary dust off the taller girl and pushed her hair off her cardigan. Angie narrowed her eyes. Velma was not a tactile individual. The only other person she had ever seen Velma do this sort of personal grooming on was Shaggy last year, though he certainly needed it. She’d like to know what about Marcie stirred this sort of behavior. After all, she was presentable enough and it Velma wasn’t a fashion palette like her friend Daphne.

“Does that mean you’re going star gazing?” Angie asked innocently. At Marcie’s nod she went in for the kill. If she suggested something absurd the teenager being questioned would find it so ridiculous they’d spit out the truth. The trick had worked countless times over the years for Angie. “Perhaps at Scenic Cliffs?”

Marcie went pale at the suggestion. Scenic Cliffs was better known as Lover’s Lane by the teens of Crystal Cove. If she and Velma went there it was highly unlikely they’d be star gazing for very long.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Velma spluttered. She shoved Marcie out the door and propelled her down the front walk.

“Now wait just a minute, young lady! I wasn’t done questioning you,” Angie called, but Velma ignored her.

Instead she pushed Marcie into the driver’s seat of a mustard yellow clunker and raced around to the passenger side. When she slammed the door the whole car shook. As soon as it rumbled to life the car limped away leaving Angie with a faint longing for hot dogs.

Angie sighed and shook her head. That last question had been overdoing things. She probably shouldn’t have teased Marcie like that on a first meeting. If Velma was interested in her the last thing Angie wanted to do was scare her away. Velma needed more friends, especially the good kind that got her interested and excited about safe topics, like science. Angie would be delighted if this homework assignment led to them staying up late giggling and watching movies. Madelyn did that with a whole gaggle of girls on a semi-regular basis. She just didn’t want Velma lonely anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did fandom really need Velma/Marcie outsider p.o.v. from Velma's mom? Apparently, Angie and my brain thought yes, so here it is.
> 
> The fic diverges from canon somewhere early season 2, mostly to avoid the crazier aspects of Nibiru. Expect this story to be around 5-7 chapters.


	2. Dinner

A month passed and Angie had only wheedled the barest of information about Marcie out of Velma. Her daughter was always tight lipped, but she may as well have sewn them shut concerning Marcie. Independent research told Angie that Marcie lived with her father, who ran Creepy Spooky Terror Land, and had been the second place winner at the district science fair the last three years in a row. That must have been why she looked so familiar to Angie, Velma won the last three science fairs.

So it was a complete shock when Velma asked if Marcie could spend the night over dinner. Angie and Dale, her husband both stopped eating to turn and look at their eldest. Madelyn had a more violent reaction to the question. She spat out a mouthful of peas and pounded the table hard enough to tip over a glass of milk.

“She can’t have anyone come over!” Madelyn shrieked. “My friends are staying here this weekend!”

“It’s only Marcie, nothing like the herd you always insist on bringing over. You’d barely know she was here,” Velma said. “Besides, your sleepover isn’t until Saturday. I want her to spend Friday night.”

“But she’ll make everything smell like hot dogs!” Madelyn protested. “The smell lingers wherever she goes, that’s why everyone calls her Hot Dog Water!”

“You will never refer to her like that again! Is that understood?” Velma demanded, rising up out of her seat.

The rest of the table was taken aback at her behavior. For all of her fights with her parents over her privacy, independence, and the existence of monster, Velma rarely raised her voice. She never yelled at Madelyn, instead choosing to quietly complain about her behind her back, but otherwise fully support her little sister. The unexpected scolding nearly had the thirteen-year-old in tears. Dale looked flabbergasted at Velma’s behavior and, like most things in life, turned to his wife for how to handle the situation. Angie was stunned as well, but she wanted to see what her older child did next before reacting. If she apologized or explained herself that would be a mitigating factor.

“Don’t ever call her that, okay? It hurts her feelings,” Velma said. “She can’t help that she sometimes smells like that. Most of her clothes are wool and so when she sweats there’s a chemical reaction with the bacteria that’s naturally found on all of our skin and it produces an odor that smells like hotdogs. Even Fred knows that.”

“I hear her dad makes them bathe in the leftover hotdog bath water because they’re too poor to afford fresh water,” Madelyn grumbled. Velma prickled again, ready to tear into her sister again in defense of her friend.

“Both of you that’s enough!” Angie said, getting both her daughters’ attention. With a firm glare she had Velma back in her seat. ”Madelyn, you should never use cruel nicknames for people, especially when you know it’s upsetting or hurtful. Also, don’t spread rumors about people, they’re usually groundless and meant to cause embarrassment.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Madelyn said, cringing.

“And Velma, apologize to your sister. What she said was offensive, however you had no reason to overreact like that. You had her in tears.”

“I’m sorry,” Velma said automatically, though she didn’t really sound like it in the slightest. Madelyn sniffed. “I’ll remember to stay quiet the next time someone says something incredibly hurtful about someone I care about.”

“You care about this ‘Hot Dog Water’ girl?” Dale asked, unfortunately picking up on the wrong name.

“Marcie is my friend,” Velma said, stressing the name. “Well on her way to being my best friend. I adore the gang and they’re practically family, but… Marcie and I have so much more in common. We have the same interests, like the same books…”

“Have the same fashion sense,” Madelyn added. Velma glared at her.

“Please continue,” Angie said, giving Velma her most encouraging smile. It had been a long time since Velma opened up to the family about anything. Last time must have been when she tried explaining her proposal to NASA for an earthworm experiment on the internal space station for growth and development of protein synthesis. It went right over the heads of everyone else in the family. After that Velma stopped bothering to involve them in her life. Angie missed listening to her chatter.

“Historically she was my biggest rival, but I’m much happier having her as a friend,” Velma finished stiffly. It sounded like she wasn’t willing to share any more personal details. She adjusted her glasses. “Ideally I’d like us to join forces for this year’s science fair, but I haven’t broached the subject with her yet. I was hoping to do that during a sleepover here. That way if she said yes we could spend the whole night brainstorming.”

“You wanted a sleepover for extracurricular homework? That is so lame!” Madelyn proclaimed, goggling at her sister.

“Madelyn, that’s enough,” Angie said. “Velma, of course you can invite your friend over this weekend. I’m delighted you’ve found someone to explore your more academic interests with.”

“Thanks Mom,” Velma beamed. Angie couldn’t remember the last time she saw her smile like that.

“No fair!” Madelyn yelped.

“However, there is going to be a sit-down dinner that evening and you are not going to get embarrassed and lose your temper, or refuse to let her answer any of my questions,” Angie said. “I’m your mother. I take an interest in your life and I want to know about the people you associate with. I want to like your friends, Velma, but I need to know you’re safe. This is your only option, my dear. I advise you take it.”

“Fine,” Velma agreed.

“Excellent. I’m glad that’s all settled,” Dale said before any of the women could upset the new agreement. He held out his plate. “Now could someone give me more pot roast? I spent all afternoon making dinner and I don’t want to reheat it.”

With a smile Angie placed a few slices on Dale’s plate. She couldn’t wait for Friday and a few answers from this Marcie girl. Velma would for sure bring Marcie home, she wouldn’t have asked unless it was important to her. Likely she’d prep Marcie for most of the standard questions Angie might ask the girl, but she couldn’t think of everything. As soon as they were done with dinner she was starting a list.

Friday couldn’t come fast enough for any of the Dinkleys, though Velma seemed to have the most invested in its arrival. Marcie came home from school with Velma that afternoon. Angie had to bite her tongue to refrain from commenting on the girl’s distinctive odor and simply smiled to welcome her into her home. Her silent greeting visibly relieved Velma, mostly because Angie typically would have launched into her questions immediately. Before she could recover enough to start a proper conversation, Velma grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged Marcie upstairs to her room. She didn’t see either girl again until dinner.

Just as Angie turned the heat off on her signature Dinkley chili she heard a clatter down the stairs. Thinking it was Velma and Marcie, she poked her head out of the kitchen, interested in getting as much time with Marcie as possible. Instead it was Madelyn and she rushed past her mother making a straight beeline for the door.

“Bye Mom!” Madelyn shouted, already halfway out. “I’m going out for dinner.”

“No you’re not,” Angie said, disapprovingly. “I’ve made more than enough chili for everyone and we have a guest here.”

“Velma has a guest,” Madelyn corrected. “I don’t want to be put off my feed by the gross smell combination of hotdogs, chili, and broccoli casserole.”

“Then it’s a good thing Mom didn’t make any hotdogs or casserole,” Velma snapped. If looks could kill Angie would be short a daughter. Marcie stood awkwardly behind her, completely red in the face as she glared down at her stockings.

Madelyn went pale. As cruel and thoughtless as her comments had been, she clearly hadn’t meant for Marcie to actually hear them. Her insensitive comments were the result of her youth, but she wasn’t a callous individual. Angie hoped seeing the effect of her thoughtless words might make Madelyn choose them more carefully in the future. Still, in the present they had a problem on their hands and Angie needed to smooth things over before her daughters started screaming at each other. Most of the time her girls got along, but Velma’s new friend seemed to be a sore spot between them. Perhaps Madelyn was jealous; that had been a common occurrence over the years.

“Girls, I’m glad to see you’ve come down,” Angie said brightly. “Madelyn, go set the table. The good set. I’d like Marcie to see we have some manners. Velma, why don’t you and Marcie come into the kitchen? I could use your help transferring dinner into serving dishes.”

Velma’s face had twisted into that sullen mask she wore so often these days, much to Angie’s despair, but she shrugged and walked into the kitchen. Marcie followed her without bothering to look up. Angie tried not to frown. Madelyn’s words must have really hurt the poor girl. Both her daughters had suffered at the hands of bullies over the years, but they had thrived with a strong support system and built up resistance to the taunts. It didn’t seem like Marcie had the same luxury.

Still, once the girls were in the kitchen shaking the gluten free bread Angie ran out to buy this morning specifically for Marcie’s visit things seemed to get better. Velma and Marcie both had smiles on their faces as they whispered to each other about arrangement presentation for the other dishes. Angie stayed back and simply watched them interact. It was nice seeing her daughter happy with a new friend. Especially when this one didn’t booby-trap the entire dining room or eat the entire meal before anyone else had a taste. A little odor was nothing compared to that.

Once the entire family was assembled the meal began. Angie made certain that Marcie was served first, as the guest, and that everyone got what they needed on their plate. At first she let the girls eat in peace while she caught up with Dale about the store. Since it had been her turn to cook that evening Angie had been the one to leave early and she wanted to make certain nothing had gone wrong. Dale was a competent husband and business owner most of the time, but he tended to panic in times of crisis. Angie never panicked.

As soon as he explained that there was nothing new to report Angie turned to Marcie and smiled. Velma tensed at the look on her mother’s face, but remained silent. She remembered the deal and seemed to be honoring it. Sensing the change in atmosphere, Marcie met Angie’s gaze and adjusted her glasses. She seemed ready to talk. Velma must have warned her about dinner. Excellent, that meant Angie didn’t have to feel the slightest guilt about her questions.

“So, Marcie, I understand you and Velma have been spending a lot of time together,” Angie began. “Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? We’re delighted that Velma has a new friend.”

“Certainly. As previously mentioned, Velma and I share a physics class together, While this is the first time we’ve partnered together on anything, we’ve been aware of each other since middle school,” Marcie said. “From the science fair circuit.”

“I see,” Angie said.

“Marcie had that neat project on artificial intelligence two years ago,” Velma said. “You might remember it, Mom. Professor Laslow Ostwald was very interested in Marcie’s work.”

“So computer science is your major interest?” Angie asked. “Is that what you’d like to do as an adult, be a computer programmer?”

“Well, computer design and coding are important topics, I’m actually more interested robotics and material design these days,” Marcie explained. “You see, I’ve been doing some research into the effects of use, stress, and electricity on different metals commonly found in amusement parks and I’ve found—”

“Velma, didn’t you build a fully operational robotic talking dog with AI a few years ago?” Dale asked, cutting Marcie off just as she was warming up to her subject. “I seem to recall you winning some major robotics competition and being flown out to Japan to meet some doctor.”

“Yeah, but it turned out Dr. Akira Onodera had turned to illegal business practices to gain control of a port and then framed Shaggy for rampant destruction of several cities as a Godzilla-like monster, so the gang and I had him arrested. I believe he’s serving a fifteen year sentence for his crimes,” Velma said.

There was an uncomfortable pause, as there was whenever one of the gang’s mystery solving escapades came up. The Dinkleys were in the business of selling spooks, not disproving them. It made Velma’s hobby an awkward subject.

“But didn’t that start out as a science fair project?” Dale asked.

“Yes, that was the project that beat my computer AI,” Marcie said. “Velma’s beaten me at the tri-county science fair the last three years in a row. I don’t plan on losing to her this year.”

“Have you started working on your project yet?” Velma asked.

“I have a few ideas,” Marcie conceded, “but I’m not in the habit of sharing my ideas with the competition.”

“Sharing is caring,” Madelyn piped up. Velma and Marcie glanced at her, then refocused on each other.”

“You know, I don’t have to be the competition,” Velma said. “I was thinking, if you’re amenable to it of course, that perhaps we could work together this year. Combine forces.”

“I could be convinced to form a partnership with you,” Marcie said, smiling. “However, you would have to be highly persuasive considering how often your primary focus is biological.”

“I am extremely persuasive when I want to be,” Velma grinned.

“Then I look forward to your attempts.”

Angie’s eyes narrowed. Something about this exchange seemed off to her. While Velma was typically excited by science, something else had bled into her tone and both girls’ word choice seemed off. It was like they were talking about more than just the science fair. In fact, if she didn’t know better, Angie would think they were flirting. It certainly sounded like some of the banter she used to have with brilliant handsome men in college, though admittedly a bit more toned down and awkward. Perhaps that was due to inexperience or the fact they were having this conversation in front of Velma’s family.

“Tell us about your family, Marcie,” Angie said, refusing to let her mind wander down that path any farther. It was fine if Velma was a lesbian, might even explain some things about her daughter, but one conversation was not proof and Angie was not going to borrow trouble. No, she was going to find out what sort of person Marcie Fleach was and determine if she was a bad influence on Velma. She could investigate other theories later.

“I live with my father, Winslow, who runs Creepy Spooky Terror Land,” Marcie said. “It’s just the two of us, though Dad was talking about getting a cat the other day, and we make do. The amusement park hasn’t been doing that well of later, but I have some new ride designs in mind that might act as an analgesic and renew interest. Once I draft some blueprints Dad was going to see about getting some engineers to take a look.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Angie said. “Are you looking into any specific college programs?”

“Mom!” Velma shouted, clearly scandalized. Angie glanced at her, but Velma said nothing more, instead just glaring.

“I’m looking into engineering programs, mostly in-state due to tuition costs,” Marcie said, adjusting her glasses. “Really, I’ll end up going wherever offers me the best financial package. I can’t afford college without a full scholarship and can’t handle significant student debt. We’re barely keeping the park open as it is, so Dad can’t afford to help me on this. Most of my free time is spent studying these days, working at the park, and bolstering my resume for the application process.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Angie said. “How do you feel about mystery solving?”

“Negative interest outside of the lab, but I’m willing to go along with it if Velma insists.”

“I see.” Angie brightened at the prospect Marcie might convince Velma to focus on less business destroying hobbies at least some of the time. “And have you ever been arrested?”

“Mom!” Madelyn yelped, clearly scandalized.

“Angie, I don’t think that’s a topic you need to investigate,” Dale began, shaking his head.

“Once,” Marcie said. Everyone except Velma turned to look at her in shock. Velma groaned. “I made a flying manticore suit and tested it at the park. It freaked some people out and they got hurt when they cut their way out of ride restraints when they saw me flying around, which was well away from them. Mystery Incorporated figured out I was in the suit and I was arrested for attacking tourists, even though I didn’t actually go anywhere near them.”

“Velma had you arrested and you still want to hang out with her?” Madelyn asked, eyes goggling. “Are you planning to stab her in the back?”

Angie wouldn’t have phrased it quite like that, but she had the same concern. She and Dale exchanged worried looks. Velma normally showed better judgment than this.

“Of course not!” Velma said, rolling her eyes. “We’re friends.”

“Well, we are now,” Marcie said. “I spent two weeks in juvie awaiting trial, then Velma came to court and disproved Sheriff Stone’s case. Since my tests were mostly over a closed off part of the park and the visitors injured themselves after destroying safety restraints I wasn’t at fault. We’re a park called Creepy Spooky Terror Land, serious scares like a flying manticore are part of the sell and falls under the same legal protections as Halloween fright farms. Velma found all the case law for me, which my public defender wasn’t willing to do.”

“And I’ve been groundlessly arrested at least a dozen times, so you can’t hold one arrest, especially when it’s over the sort of thing you base your business on, against her,” Velma said, glaring at Angie. She swallowed hard and smiled at her daughter.

“Of course I don’t hold it against her, darling,” Angie said, smiling. “You seem like a lovely girl, Marcie.”

Thankfully Madelyn turned the conversation to something much lighter and filled up the rest of dinner with senseless babble. It seemed even more inane than usual, which Angie suspected was intentional. It was her own way of smoothing her sister’s feathers. 

As soon as they finished Velma and Marcie retreated back up to Velma’s room taking dessert with them. Angie hadn’t gotten through even half of her questions, but Marcie had given her enough food for thought and she didn’t have the heart to continue. Especially after she heard Velma quietly offer to let Marcie use their shower or borrow some of her clothes if she ever wanted to get rid of the smell on their way of the stairs. Velma clearly liked her friend and wanted to help her as best she could. 

Angie pointedly did not think about the fact that when she checked on the girls before going to bed, she found them both asleep in Velma’s bed instead of Marcie using the air mattress. They were obviously close. That was a good thing. If Velma wanted to date, or was even already dating Marcie, that would be okay too. Angie just did not want to have to sit Velma down for a talk about boundaries and guidelines for dating a girl under her roof. They weren’t any different than if Velma were dating a boy, but somehow such a conversation felt uncomfortable to her. Perhaps she could get Dale to do it instead. If nothing else, Velma would stick to the rules to avoid ever having to have such a conversation with her father ever again.


	3. Lazy Saturday

Angie and Dale were walking along the beach one Saturday afternoon when she noticed something odd. If she didn’t know better Angie would swear that was Velma in a swimsuit on the beach. She looked just like her and worn same swimsuit Angie had bought Velma. However, it couldn’t be because despite finding her an orange one-piece suit, Velma refused to ever let it be seen on her in public. Angie moved closer just to confirm that she was really seeing things and that it was some other girl who wasn’t her daughter. Instead, she realized it was Velma when Marcie raced up to her in a bikini top and shorts while carrying an oversized model plane.

“V, sorry I’m late!” Marcie called, sliding to a halt when she reached Velma. “It took a little longer to get this here in one piece.”

“It’s fine, Marcie,” Velma laughed. She gingerly took the plane from her friend and rotated it carefully in her hands as if inspecting it. “You did great with the paint job.”

“I probably should have waited on that until after the test run,” Marcie said. She pulled an oversized remote controller out of her shorts. “That’ll be a lot of time and effort wasted if we can’t get her off the ground.”

“We’ll manage,” Velma promised. “The physics is right, it should work, especially with the super helium balloon inside. I’m more interested in seeing if this intentionally underpowered engine will still maintain maneuverability, or if we’ve essentially created a metal coated hot air balloon.”

“The mini jetpacks ought to keep that reality from happening,” Marcie said. “Come on, let’s head over to the Crab Shack. They usually have space around them because no one likes the smell and I’ll buy you a crab cone.”

“Gee, that’s a real tempting offer.”

“I know, that’s why it’s an offer you can’t refuse,” Marcie grinned. She reached out and brushed a lock of Velma’s hair behind her ear. Velma smiled at her then batted away her hand.

“Those cones are so salty and artery clogging.”

“I know, but they’re delicious too. Having them as an actual treat once in a blue moon is a good thing. Promise I won’t go all Shaggy on you, V, I can barely finish one of the smalls on my own.”

“Fine,” Velma agreed, taking Marcie’s hand. “I’ll lead the way so that no one crashes into you and the plane.”

The girls walked away in the direction of the Crab Shack. Angie moved to follow them, but a hand clapped to her shoulder stopped her. Turning she saw Dale smiling blandly at her.

“Ready to head back, dear?” Dale asked. “We need to review inventory before tonight’s haunted tours.”

“Soon,” Angie promised. “However, I thought we could get clam cones before that.”

“Sounds perfect.”

They ambled to the Clam Shack and after a short conversation with Skipper Shelton, where they pointedly avoided mentioning anything that could turn the conversation to his nose, had clam cones in hand. Dale sat down at a plastic table near the parking lot and Angie joined him, sitting down beside him so that she could scan the beach. After a moment she wrapped her free hand around his.

“Looking for something?” Dale asked after he had eaten half his cone, while Angie barely touched hers.

“Found it,” Angie said. She shook her cone at Velma and Marcie, who were seated at a similar table technically facing the ocean, but they were far more focused on each other. Marcie seemed to be laughing.

“Ah, I see,” Dale said. “They’re awfully close, aren’t they? I can’t remember the last time Velma warmed up that quickly to a stranger.”

“They weren’t strangers, dear. Remember, they used to be science fair rivals,” Angie reminded him. She offered him her cone. “Now shoosh, I don’t want to attract their attention.”

“And you wonder where Velma got her inquisitive nature,” Dale chuckled, but he accepted his wife’s bribe.

A big dog bounded over to the girls and pounced on Velma’s lap. Yelping, she dropped her clam cone, but before it could hit the sand the dog caught it then wolfed it down, not bothering to chew. Typical Scooby behavior. Velma yelled at him, but Scooby wasn’t contrite in the slightest. Shaggy, Fred, and Daphne descended on the table, though only the boys carried clam based food. Velma shouted at Shaggy about Scooby, but he just shrugged and offered her a slice of his clam pizza, which Scooby lunged up and bit out of his hand like a crocodile. Velma batted the dog away when she grabbed her own slice from the table.

When she finished her compensatory slice, Velma talked animatedly with Daphne. Marcie was by far the most silent of the group, which was odd because Angie had the sense she had opinions and was unafraid to share them. Instead her attention seemed split between watching Velma and Scooby and actually pushed the dog away a few times when he circled around to steal more food from her or Velma. Eventually Scooby got the point and settled by Shaggy, where he was able to share his food. At that point Marcie offered Velma her clam cone, which they passed back and forth until it was gone.

“As much as I enjoy seeing our daughter happy, we do have to get back to the shop,” Dale gently reminded Angie.

“I know,” Angie sighed. He was right, but she had a hard time tearing herself away from such a happy scene.

“Do you want me to head back and start on my own so you can watch her a little while longer?”

“No, I can’t do that to you.”

Angie slowly rose to her feet, unwilling to turn away just yet. Fred and Marcie also rose, then carried the plane out a short distance before setting it on the sand. Soon Marcie had the plane soaring around the gang’s head as she controlled its flight with an oversized remote. Fred seemed eager to try it out and, with great reluctance Marcie handed over the controls. With her help he soon had the plane doing barrel rolls, much to Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma’s delight.

Angie had a grin matching her daughter’s when she noticed where Velma’s attention lay. While everyone else watched the plane, Velma’s gaze focused on Marcie. She looked comfortable, happy, and content to enjoy some harmless fun with her friends. With the peace of mind knowing that her daughter was not getting into trouble mystery solving Angie turned away. She and Dale headed back to work ready to focus and really sell the town’s mysteries to tourists.

Later that evening Angie came home to find Velma, Madelyn, and Marcie in the living room. They were watching a Vincent Van Ghoul movie while working on their respective homework assignments. While the sight of either of her daughters watching TV as they did their homework wasn’t that unusual, it had been ages since she last saw them doing that together. They even seemed to be enjoying each other’s company, if the grin on Madelyn’s face or the smirk Velma sported were any indication.

“Hey Mom,” Madelyn called from her spot on the floor when she noticed her mother staring. Velma and Marcie held control of the couch. “Can we get Chinese takeout tonight?”

“I thought you wanted pizza,” Angie said. “You’ve been campaigning for it all week.”

“Yeah, but Marcie’s over and gluten free pizza tastes terrible,” Madelyn said, wrinkling her nose.

“It’s not that bad,” Velma said, “once you get used to it.”

“Much better than the alternative, at least in my case,” Marcie agreed. They grinned at each other.

“Chinese is great,” Angie said. “I’m just happy to see you girls getting along.”

“Marcie’s not that bad,” Madelyn admitted.

“I told you,” Velma said smugly. Marcie lifted a leg and jabbed her big toe into Velma’s side, making her screech with laughter before Madelyn could retaliate. Velma batted the foot away, but she still seemed to be in a good humor. If anyone in her family had done that, she would have stormed off to her room in a huff. Her parents learned the hard way how much Velma hated being teased.

“But that’s mostly because she keeps Velma in line,” Madelyn concluded.

“Hey now, keep it up and we won’t look at your English paper,” Marcie warned. “English isn’t a subject either of us is well versed in anyway.”

“Oh bull, you guys get straight ‘A’s, looking at my paper should be no sweat.”

“We get those grades because we work our tails off. That doesn’t mean some subjects aren’t hard for us,” Velma said. “Besides, even if we liked writing, that doesn’t mean either of us wants to edit a freshman’s term paper. Marcie only agreed to do it because she’s nice.”

“I’m not nice,” Marcie said. Velma just shot her a look. After a long moment Marcie shrugged as if conceding the point. Madelyn laughed again.

Angie beamed as she watched the three of them interact. This was what she had always imagined having daughters would be like. Perhaps they wouldn’t ever be best of friends, but they could get along and enjoy each other’s company. She didn’t know for certain if Marcie was the secret ingredient for this newfound harmony, but she was the only difference in the equation. Angie was ready to adopt her if it meant Velma would hang out in the living room and joke with her sister. 

Velma had become so secretive and brittle in recent years. Angie often wondered if that was her or Dale’s fault. They tried to be as loving and supportive as possible, but Velma’s strange obsession with mystery solving made it difficult at times. It was a dangerous hobby that could lead the entire town to ruin. The entire fiasco with former Mayor Jones this spring proved that. She’d never try to change her daughter, but Angie wished Velma had more benign hobbies like Madelyn. Sure, clown college and magic school had been tedious affairs, but most children’s activities were. They also had the added benefit of never getting Madelyn arrested.

The science fairs had been a good fit, but Velma eventually lost interest in them because it didn’t mesh well with her group of friends. The only reason Velma had bothered signing up the last two years was because her teacher begged her. At least, Angie thought that had been the only reason until she met Marcie. Now she wasn’t so sure. Velma often hid her desires from her parents in the past often enough Angie generally expected her to do it these days. A tightly held rivalry, especially if it recently turned into something else, was exactly the sort of thing she wouldn’t want her parents to find out about.

Angie phoned in their order making certain to order enough that there would be leftovers. By the time she returned to the living room, intent on joining the girls for the rest of the evening, she found they had shifted gears. They were still watching the Van Ghoul movie—some lizard man was now chasing the heroine—but the homework was gone. Madelyn had joined the others on the couch, which in turn shifted Velma from her original side to Marcie’s. There was enough room between Velma and Marcie that Angie could have squeezed in, but that might have been too on the nose. Instead she claimed an overstuffed armchair where she could watch the film and the girls without anyone noticing. She’d be interested to see if Marcie’s arm slid down from the back of the couch to Velma.

It never did, but Velma’s head found its way onto Marcie’s shoulder and her hands ended up in the other girl’s lap. Marcie’s nose was sunk deep into Velma’s hair and neither girl bothered to stir when Angie set the takeout on the coffee table. Indeed, they almost seemed spellbound by the film—which seemed highly unlikely considering the fact it was not Vincent Van Ghoul’s greatest work—and did not move until the credits. Then, as Madelyn happily sighed, Velma sat up and groaned while stretching. Marcie adjusted her glasses.

“Wasn’t that a romantic ending?” Madelyn asked.

“I dunno, it seems highly unlikely a lizard man would make for a successful king of a permafrost land,” Marcie said. She leaned forward and snagged the carton of mushu pork off the table. Velma bit into an eggroll nodding in agreement.

“The government looked to be an absolute monarchy, which means it’d have to shut down for half the year while he was hibernating,” Velma said. “I mean, didn’t the princess find Van Ghoul’s character while he was hibernating and accidentally got encased in ice?”

“Oh, you two poke the fun out of everything. I was referring to the ball!” Madelyn said. “Everything was so fancy and you know she was going to get her happily ever after. I would love to be swept off my feet like that at a dance. Wouldn’t you?”

“No,” Velma said flatly. “Considering how much of a fiasco prom was last year I never want to go to another dance again.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Angie began.

“Shaggy left me for a dog and didn’t have the courage to tell either one of us about his commitment to the other. Then Fred got attacked by a ghost girl who wrecked the dance,” Velma reminded her. “No thanks.”

“I think it could be fun,” Marcie said. “You know, with the right people.”

“You want to go?” Velma asked, surprise written across her face.

“Well… yeah,” Marcie said, shrugging. “With the right people, I mean. Not like I’ve got another chance for prom.”

“Okay,” Velma said softly. “We’ll go.”

They smiled at each other again. Angie wanted to pull both girls to her chest and hug them tightly. They were so awkward and precious. Marcie had to mean a lot to Velma because she never altered her decision once her mind was made up on a subject. Especially when she initially rejected it so strongly.

Getting into the spirit Madelyn threw her arms around Velma and Marcie. “Oh my gosh, I’m so jealous! I wish they let freshmen go; I’d make Elliott Blender take me. Still, we’ll get some pretty dresses, and do your hair and make up… ooh, maybe some boys will even dance with you two!”

“I don’t care about dancing with any boys,” Velma growled.

“Are you still smarting from that Hebediah Grim thing?” Madelyn asked. “Gary and Ethan were just being jerks. They didn’t realize they were in the presence real beauty when it was right in their faces.”

“Exactly. You‘re very attractive,” Marcie agreed. “I mean… if I was dating someone like you, I’d do anything to keep us together. Brains, beauty, and wit, well, you’re the whole package, V.”

“Thanks,” Velma mumbled, turning bright red. 

Marcie didn’t seem to notice that neither her sister nor her friend said anything more on the subject that evening. In fact, both girls stayed fairly quiet as they finished their meals. Then Marcie made a hasty farewell before the second movie ended and Velma retreated to her room. Madelyn was disappointed by her sister’s early departure and Dale was disappointed to learn he’d missed his elder daughter entirely when he got home, but Angie understood. Young love could be surprisingly bashful.


	4. Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a 3-4 paragraph transition at the beginning of the science fair chapter, but then it declared independence. At least you now know what the next chapter's about?

Before Angie knew it fall semester was over and winter break passed in a blink of an eye. To her knowledge Velma only got mixed up in two mysteries over break, which was a far cry from the eight solved mysteries, and suspected involvement in at least sixteen, last year. Angie still shuddered when she remembered the gang solving three separate cases on Christmas day. The local Friars still gave her the stick eye whenever she passed their renovated monastery for how Fred incorporated their manger scene into a trap. Really, if they should be mad at anyone it ought to be Fred Sr. or Brad and Judy. Angie wasn’t even Christian. Maybe that was part of their problem.

In fact, Angie had on good authority that Velma spent two whole days of her vacation without the gang. One was at a family reunion and the other was spent with Marcie. While Angie was not actually with Velma for most of that day, and she spent the night at the Fleaches’ house, she was led to believe they spent the day working on their science fair project. She believed it, as Velma became more and more tightly wound, white knuckling all the time, and snapping at everyone for the slightest provocation as January wore on. 

This was typical science fair pre-jitters and had been an annual occurrence in the Dinkley household since Velma started kindergarten. Until someone whose experienced opinion Velma respected vetted her finished project she was a nervous wreck. Experiments on their own didn’t cause this sort of anxiety in her daughter, Angie knew it was the judging and the unreal expectations Velma placed upon herself. Angie knew quite well even though she herself was not a scientist that failure was a regular part of the process. Yet for Velma failure was not an option. The fact she had yet to fail either spoke to Velma’s shrewd ingenuity or a lack of creativity in pursuing unorthodox solutions. Angie didn’t know which was worse, for someday Velma would eventually fail and she only hoped her daughter could cope. Ideally she’d learn that skill before grad school.

Even Marcie wasn’t shielded from Velma’s temper. Angie was shocked when she came home late in January one day and found the girls embroiled in a bitter shouting match in the garage surrounded by SCUBA equipment. Both girls were red in the face and as Angie got out of the car she half expected them to come to blows despite their cerebral nature.

“Get it through your thick skull, Dinkley, our data is solid!” Marcie shouted. “We haven’t simply triple-checked our findings, we’ve quintuple-checked them! It’s time to put the finishing touches on our poster and polish our presentation!”

“This project is so much more subjective than your previous works, Marcie, one more check ought to be required!” Velma shouted back. “Our presentation will be pointless if the premise is wrong!”

“It’s not wrong! You’ve made sure of that and in fact it’s brilliant like everything else you do!” Marcie huffed. She adjusted her glasses and lowered her voice. “We’re not going back down there right now and that’s final. We’ve already pushed NASE diving guidelines and I refuse to court decompression sickness for no reason.”

“Then I’ll go check it myself,” Velma snapped.

“Absolutely not!” Marcie exploded. “This is our project and we agreed we’d do everything together! We’re a team! The first rule of SCUBA is never dive alone!”

“SCUBA diving?” Angie asked, alarmed. This was the first she had heard of it. Neither girl even registered her presence.

“And we agreed we’d do things my way!” Velma yelled.

“Within reason!” Marcie snapped back.

“Do you want to know why I’ve always beaten you in the past, Fleach? It’s because I’m willing to go the extra mile,” Velma said, seething. She picked up an oxygen tank. “I’m going and you can’t stop me.”

“Yes I can,” Marcie snatched a SCUBA mask out of Velma’s hands.

“Hey!” Velma shouted, reaching for the mask, but Marcie used her height to keep them out of reach.

“You can’t dive if you can’t see!”

When Velma tried to pull Marcie’s arm within reach with her stockier frame Marcie unexpectedly hurled the mask against the driveway, cracking the lenses. Both girls froze, staring at the mask in shock. Velma let go of Marcie and took a step back. Marcie turned to her friend; face tightly pinched in that way Angie recognized from when her daughters were little and wanted to remain angry, but were seconds away from tears.

“V, I…” Marcie began.

“Save it, Hot Dog Water,” Velma cut her off. “I didn’t think you could be so childishly destructive. I was wrong.”

Velma stormed into the house, slamming the garage door shut behind her. Angie didn’t think Velma ever noticed she was there. Marcie stood facing the house, which left her face obscured from Angie’s view. However, she recognized the telltale shake of Marcie’s shoulders and as she stepped closer to comfort the girl she could see tears streaming down Marcie’s cheeks.

“Oh sweetie,” Angie said, placing a hand on Marcie’s wiry shoulder. The girl burst into loud gasping sobs. “She didn’t really mean that. Velma’s always been a horribly over dramatic bundle of nerves, especially right before a science fair.”

“I just wrecked her $200 prescription diving mask!” Marcie wailed. “Velma hates me now!”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Angie said automatically, though she was reeling at the price tag on that smashed mask.

“She called me Hot Dog Water!” Marcie shrieked at Angie. “She hasn’t called me that since we became friends! And since we… we started… she promised she’d never let anyone ever call me that again.”

“I’m so sorry, Marcie,” Angie said, unsure if she should hug the girl or if that would make the situation worse. She didn’t know how Marcie reacted to touching while upset. Velma was grounded. Angie’d slap an ankle monitor on her if she had to, but Velma was under house arrest with no privileges until graduation for this.

“I just wanted to keep her from being hospitalized. The bends are no joke and if she developed an arterial gas embolism, she could die,” Marcie whimpered. She was shaking like a leaf and when she leaned forward slightly Angie took that as a sign to pull her to her chest. Marcie sobbed on her shoulder as she rubbed her back. “I would do anything for her!”

“I know, sweetie,” Angie said, petting Marcie’s hair. “Velma knows that too.”

“Is she going to dissolve our partnership?” Marcie asked. “We’re so close to the science fair, I’d hate to see our work go to waste now.”

“Do you still want to present with her?” Angie asked, genuinely curious. Marcie nodded into her shoulder. “Then you will. If she doesn’t come to her senses, which I suspect will happen later tonight, I will make her.”

As Marcie was in no condition to drive, Angie decided to keep her there until Dale got home from his men’s club meeting. She was equally unwilling to leave Velma unsupervised, especially if she was still angry enough to put herself in danger. 

Since the fight had left Marcie quite morose, Angie decided to cheer her up. The easiest way to make her girls smile whenever they were sad was to make them cookies, so Angie figured that method would work on Marcie as well. When she protested she wouldn’t be able to eat the cookies, Angie laughed and pulling out the gluten free baking mix she had made after the second time Marcie spent the night. It had taken a little research to find a simple and halfway decent tasting formula—she taste tested several batches on Scooby, Shaggy, and herself—but Angie wanted all of Velma’s friends happy in her home. That meant Marcie needed to be able to eat the same sort of things as everyone else.

“Thank you, Ms. Dinkley,” Marcie said, watching as Angie mixed chocolate chips into the dough. “It’s been years since I last had homemade cookies.”

“You know you should call me Angie,” Angie laughed. She scooped large clumps onto a cookie sheet. “I thought Velma said you found out about your gluten intolerance fairly recently, or was she just referencing your trip to China as an example?”

“We recognized my issue three years ago after a particularly bad camping trip, but I haven’t had homemade cookies since my mom died when I was twelve,” Marcie explained. Angie’s train of thought froze and she turned to stare at Marcie, who shifted uncomfortably. “Dad’s not much of a cook and I haven’t had a lot of friends in meat space before Velma. I suppose I could make some for myself, but I’ve got too many memories attached to cutting out reindeer and dragons with my mom to get out the ole mixing bowl.”

“Then I’m glad you’re willing to do this with me,” Angie said, trying not to cry. The poor girl was having a bad enough day without having to see Angie break down. She wished Velma brought Marcie home years ago. She desperately needed some overzealous mothering, which Angie could easily provide.

It had been less than an hour since the fight, so Angie was shocked to see Velma hanging around just outside of the kitchen with a hangdog expression on her face. They hadn’t even put the cookies in the oven yet; so baked goods hadn’t lured her daughter out of hiding. From the way she kept glancing at Marcie and shifting her position to stay just outside of her peripheral vision, Angie’d say Velma came looking for Marcie to apologize, however, she was terrified how the other girl would react to her presence.

“Stop hanging about like a brownie faced with socks and come into the kitchen,” Angie called, startling both girls.

Sheepishly, Velma shuffled into the kitchen. She kept her eyes directed on her mother as she climbed up onto a barstool at the counter a few feet to Marcie’s right. It was obvious she wanted to look over at Marcie, but whatever dignity she still had left kept Velma from doing so. Marcie didn’t have any such qualms and blatantly stared at her, unable to take her eyes off her.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Angie said conversationally. She didn’t look directly at her daughter, instead busying herself with the cookies. “Usually you hide out in your room all night when you get into one of your snits.”

“I… came out to apologize,” Velma said, talking down to her lap. “I behaved poorly and, Marcie, I completely understand if you don’t even want me in the same room. I can wait until whenever you’re ready to deal with me.”

Velma half rose out of her seat when Marcie leaned over grabbed her wrist. “Wait.”

Their eyes met and both girls froze. There was such intense yearning Angie couldn’t be bothered to pretend she was focused on something else. If they weren’t such defensive prickly people they’d be rolling around on the floor together, but as things stood, neither was willing to make the first move. They were terrified of showing vulnerability. Angie knew Velma had been hurt too many times before and she suspected Marcie was the same.

“Can we talk in private?” Velma asked. Marcie opened her mouth, but no words came.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Angie said. “This is my kitchen and I’ve got cookies in the oven.”

Both girls turned to stare at Angie. Velma visibly paled. Angie barely suppressed a chuckle. If they wanted to keep their relationship a secret they needed to remember when other people were in the room. Until Marcie came along Angie had always thought subtlety was one of Velma’s strong suits. Obviously, that did not pertain to her own personal life. At least the rest of her friends and family were oblivious enough she had yet to embarrass herself badly.

“Yeah, of course,” Marcie said.

Linking hands the girls awkwardly walked out the front door and sat on the front steps. From that position Angie couldn’t hear them, unless she cracked a window, but she had a perfect view of them. As much as she wanted to hear what they were saying, Angie decided to give them that modicum of privacy, mostly because the kitchen windows shrieked like a banshee whenever anyone opened them.

They sat on the steps with their heads pressed together for a long time. Suddenly Marcie reeled back and Angie was ready to run out and scold her daughter, but then she wrapped her arms around Velma’s head, hugging her tightly. Velma’s arms wrapped around Marcie’s waist, clinging to her just as tightly. Angie smiled at the girls then the timer dinged. By the time she had the cookies out of the oven and cooling on a rack the girls had shifted positions. Now Marcie’s head was tucked under Velma’s chin as Velma ran a hand up and down Marcie’s wool covered arm. They were wedged tightly into the door jam and if Angie opened the door to offer them cookies they’d tumble into the house. She figured she wait until they came begging for baked goods.

“Hey Mom, why are Velma and Marcie sitting in a tangled mess on the front steps?” Madelyn asked, coming into the house through the garage door. “Did you lock them out?”

“No, sweetie,” Angie said. “They’re making up after a fight.”

“Velma had a science fair flip out,” Madelyn concluded smugly. She perked up when she noticed the cookies. “Ooh, can I have one?”

“You may take two, but no more. I made these specifically for Marcie,” Angie smiled.

“Love you, Mom!” Madelyn shouted, dashing off to her room with her allotted cookies. Angie beamed at her daughter’s retreating form. She loved her too. She loved all her girls.


	5. Science Fair

Velma was indeed grounded for her behavior. However, it wasn’t for as long as Angie’s knee jerk reaction had wanted. Her computer was taken away and Velma was placed under a form of house arrest for a month instead of until graduation. Marcie and the gang were still allowed to come over and see Velma, but their activities were limited and they had to leave by nine no matter what. For once Angie was fairly certain Velma abided by her restrictions and didn’t sneak out, at least not excessively.

On the day of the science fair Velma left bright and early for the convention center. She wanted to meet up with Marcie well before the judging to set up their project properly. Angie wasn’t really paying attention during breakfast, but she thought Velma mentioned something about getting a seal. She assumed her daughter was talking about a stamp, but when she arrived at the science fair she found Marcie kneeling next to a tub of water with a brown pinniped situated inside. Velma stood nearby next to a pair of little boys.

“When you said you needed a seal I didn’t think you meant an actual animal,” Angie said.

“Of course she meant a real seal,” said one of the boys. He grinned at his chubbier companion. “No on wants a stupid stamp when they could have a seal. Right, Tub?”

“Right Tom,” Tub agreed. He walked over to the seal and patted its head. “And there’s no better seal than Scooby,”

Now Angie had heard everything. She stared at her daughter. “There’s a seal named Scooby?”

“Technically, Scooby’s a sea lion,” Velma corrected, adjusting her glasses.

“You can see his ear flaps and Scooby can walk short distances on land, neither of which are true of seals,” Marcie explained. Scooby barked in her ear and splashed some water. “He’s also characteristically vocal like a sea lion.”

“You’d think with marine biologists for fathers Tom and Tub would already know that, but they’re extremely stubborn on this point and insist on calling Scooby a seal,” Velma continued. “Scooby and the other two sea lions we used for our project are all referred to by their proper species on the poster and in our accompanying papers, but watch me mess up and call them seals while talking to the judges because of these two dinguses.”

“What was your project?” Angie asked. Neither girl had ever actually explained their work to her and since the SCUBA incident she had been extremely curious. Also, vaguely concerned and varying levels of alarmed depending on the time and when she had last seen the girls.

“We trained and fitted three sea lions with easily portable SONAR devices, which were designed by the brilliant Ms. Fleach, to survey the sunken missionary settlement. Using this information we were able to make a 3D model of what the settlement originally looked like and, using historical sources and artifacts recovered from the site, determined the use and occupancy of each building,” Velma explained. “Admittedly, our project involves a lot more of the softer science than either of us typically submits for these affairs, but we liked the idea of synergistically combining different fields of study. The engineering, zoology, oceanography, and archaeology have been a lot of fun exploring.”

“And it’s been interesting to see how much of my aviation pursuits have been applicable, at least in initial understanding, of the fluid dynamics needed for marine travel,” Marcie added, moving to stand by Velma. “This started out as a simple science fair project—”

“Not that these affairs are ever simple for you two,” Angie muttered under her breath.

“—but no matter what the judges decide, we now have four—”

“Five,” Velma corrected.

“—five papers submitted to leading journals in their respective fields that we coauthored,” Marcie said. She hip bumped Velma, making the other girl laugh. “I was going to say that we had four papers where we were the sole authors. The fifth paper was co-written with Dr. Williams and Captain Murphy.”

“That’s our dads,” Tub said.

“They’re famous marine biologists,” Tom added.

“How did you meet them?” Angie asked.

“Through me,” Daphne said, putting her hands on her hips. Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby Doo stood behind her. Both boys shrieked her name then charged her. Laughing she got down on one knee and hugged them. “I’ve been babysitting Tom and Tub for years.”

“I had no idea,” Angie said. “Good for you.”

“Jinkies, I wasn’t expecting to see you guys here,” Velma said.

“Like, of course we’d come to support you, Velmster,” Shaggy said. “You’re like, our best friend.”

“We love you,” Scooby agreed.

“Plus, I hear the National Science Foundation added a category on traps this year,” Fred added. “It’s specific to middle school entries, so I couldn’t join, but I want to see how the next generation of trappers are coming along. Maybe I’ll find someone who needs mentoring.”

“You get right on that, Fred,” Marcie deadpanned. Velma elbowed her, but Fred smiled and nodded.

“I’m sure you’ll be too busy with visitors and the judges, so I’ll take charge of these two,” Daphne said, gently shaking Tom and Tub.

“Thanks Daphne, if you could bring them back in a couple hours that’d be great,” Velma said. “The judges should have visited by then and they’ll need to take Scooby home.”

“Me?” Scooby asked.

“Not you, Scooby Doo, him,” Marcie said, pointing at the seal, who clapped and barked again.

“Oh good,” Scooby said, wiping his brow in relief. “I love living with Shaggy.”

“Me too pal,” Shaggy agreed. He bumped fists with the dog.

Before the group could split up they heard a scream followed by a howl. A large humanoid robot stomped through several tables’ worth of projects to reach Velma and Marcie. It snapped its pincers at them and laughed manically. Before any of them could react it reached out and snatched Scooby the sea lion from his tub. Then to make matters worse, the robot reached out with its other pincer and grabbed Scooby the dog.

“Shaggy!” Scooby howled in fear, struggling to get loose. The robot sneezed twice when Scooby’s tail brushed against its face.

“Hang on, Scoob, we’ll save you!” Shaggy shouted back, though his knees shook. “Velma will think of a plan!”

“If you put them down now you can still walk away,” Velma said. “If you don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of your miserable existence.”

Rockets ignited at the robot’s feet and it rose half a foot off the ground. Then the robot soared back the way it came taking both Scoobies with it. Velma took a few steps after it, but the three of them were out of sight in seconds. She turned back to the others with a grim expression on her face. Shaggy was frozen in place from the shock, while Fred, Daphne, and the boys looked shaken.

“Are you going to be alright on your own?” Velma asked Marcie. “I can’t ignore this.”

“Go. We both know this project backwards and forward. If the judges ask me anything I can’t answer, you wouldn’t be able to either,” Marcie said. “Go save Scooby; both of them. If you’ve got the time, also nab the jerk who snatched them in the first place.”

“I will,” Velma promised. She stepped forward and addressed the gang. “Looks like we’ve got a mystery to solve.”

“And a best friend to save,” Shaggy added, coming out of his funk with an unexpectedly determined look in his eyes. “I’m coming for ya, Scoob!”

“That goes double for you, Scooby!” Tom shouted.

“No boys, you stay here,” Fred said. “It could get dangerous.”

“But we wanna help,” Tub insisted.

“The best way you can help is if you stay out of trouble,” Daphne said. “If we’re worried about you too, we can’t focus on capture the robot or saving the Scoobies.”

“Why don’t you boys come with me?” Angie offered. “We can search the main auditorium for clues. See if any of the other participants have a reason for attacking us.”

Daphne silently mouthed thank you at Angie as the boys glumly agreed to this plan. Then she took off after the rest of the gang, who were already following the robot’s trail. Marcie shrugged and said she’d remain here for the judges. While the science fair was secondary to either Scooby’s safety, she didn’t have the mystery solving experience to be anything other than a hindrance. At least she could still win the competition for Velma. That certainly made sense to Angie.

Angie, Tom and Tub wandered around the exhibits looking at everything. However, they weren’t able to turn anything up, much to the boys’ disappointment. As they circled the event Angie did catch sight of the gang now and then examining the robot’s wake. Just as they were starting their second lap around the auditorium Angie noticed that the judges had arrived at the girls’ project and Marcie had engaged with them. Then everything exploded into chaos.

Shaggy roller-skated into the room with the robot hot on his heels. Right after he skated by Fred grabbed a middle schooler’s project, which was an EMP gun, and blasted the robot. The electromagnetic pulse zapped the robot, knocking out its guidance system and stabilizers, which sent it spiraling out of control. It bounced off the massive banner that announced this was the Crystal Cove science fair and fell splat into the massive lime jello mold, submerging the robot up to its chest. Velma walked over and pulled off the robot’s head, revealing a young boy with a blond buzz cut.

“Elliott Blender,” chorused the gang. Everyone but Velma sounded surprised at the reveal.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Elliott grumbled. Angie was suddenly relieved Madelyn was at her dance lesson and had been unable to make it to the science fair. She’d be crushed to know her crush dognapped Scooby Doo.

“Where’s Scooby?” Shaggy demanded, punching a fist into his other hand. Elliott snorted.

“Like that’s supposed to scare me?” he demanded. “You’re going to have to do better than that to make me talk.”

“We don’t have to because you’ve already told me,” Velma said. “Shaggy, the sawdust in his hair and that green wax on his cheek tell me he’s stashed the Scoobies in the woodshop room. If they’re not immediately obvious, check the cabinets where the carving tools are kept because that wax is only used on the strops.”

Shaggy nodded and immediately took off. Tub and Tom raced after him, eager to help find their friend. Velma turned back to Elliott and glared at the boy.

“How’d you know it was him?” Angie asked, for once curious to her daughter’s mystery solving process.

“There were only four people at the science fair with the technical know-how to build that robot. Me, Marcie, Jason Wyatt, and Elliott,” Velma said. “Marcie and I obviously didn’t sabotage our own project, so that left Jason and Elliot. Of the two, only Elliott is allergic to dogs and the robot sneezed when Scooby came in contact with its face. More evidence was found over the course of our investigation that strengthened my suspicion before we reached eventual confirmation with a trap.”

“I don’t care if you wrecked a lot of eggheads’ nerdfest or that you kidnapped a seal or that blasted hound,” Sheriff Bronson Stone growled as he pulled Elliott out of the robot casing and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the boy. “But I will not sit idly by while you destroy an innocent and pristine jello mold, especially one of such magnificent stature.” The Sheriff scooped up a finger full of the jello and popped it in his mouth. A single tear ran down his cheek. “What a delicious waste. You’re going away for life, you monster!”

“I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for my meddling archrival,” Elliott grumbled.

“What I don’t understand is why did you do it, Elliott?” Velma asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Elliott demanded. “To beat you! If I took part of your project and a friend you’d be too worried to perform for the judges and then I’d win!”

“But Elliott, I was working with Marcie this year and she presented for us,” Velma said, pointing at her friend. Marcie waved back. “More importantly, we weren’t in competition. Since they opened the science fair up to more grade levels they spilt the judging into three categories this year: elementary, middle, and high school. Ninth grade was grouped in the middle school section, so we both could have won if you hadn’t resorted to cheating. If you had read the instructions, you would have known that.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?” Elliott wailed as he was dragged away.

Shaggy reappeared with Scooby in tow. The dog bounded over to the gang and jumped up on Velma, licking her face. She laughed and the others drew in to pet him.

“They were right where you said they’d be, Velma,” Shaggy said happily. “Tom and Tub decided to take seal Scooby home straight away. I don’t blame them, getting tied up was rough on the little guy.”

“Velma!” Marcie called from across the room. The judges still stood beside her, as the robot trapping had interrupted their conversation. “The judges have some questions they want to specifically ask you.”

“Okay, coming,” Velma called back, hurrying over as fast as she could without running. As soon as she reached them Velma quickly launched herself into conversation with the officials, though she was too far for Angie to hear anything she said.

Unsurprisingly, once the judges had assessed every project at the science fair Velma and Marcie won first place for their project. They were understandably thrilled. Marcie could barely contain all her excitement, as this was her first time winning the science fair. Velma couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she watched Marcie celebrate. It was obvious she was more pleased with her friend’s reaction than she was with the oversized trophy. Once Marcie worked through her initial reaction with a victory dance she wrapped both her arms around Velma’s neck and buried her face in her hair, though she still managed to hang onto the trophy at the same time.

“So, are we gonna like celebrate Velma and Marcie’s victory?” Shaggy asked, scratching his chin. Around them the other participants started packing up their posters, as the awards ceremony had been the last part of the science fair.

“I think so,” Angie said. “My treat.”

“You’re gonna regret that offer,” Daphne laughed. Angie just smiled and shrugged. She had fed Shaggy and Scooby before; she knew what she was getting into.

“I say donuts,” Scooby huffed, wagging his tail.

“Anything for you, old buddy, old pal,” Shaggy laughed, scratching Scooby between the ears.

“Donuts aren’t really the best choice for a party. Why don’t we hit up Fruitmeir’s instead since Marcie can eat that too?” Velma suggested. “But we can pick some up some donuts on the way for Scooby.”

The rest of the gang agreed to this sensible choice of action. They stood around little a little awkwardly for a few minutes until it became obvious that neither Velma nor Marcie were ready to head out with them. 

“Why don’t you guys go on ahead, since Velma and I still need to pack up our stuff?” Marcie said, letting go of Velma. “We’ll join you as soon as we can.”

As the gang headed out Velma tossed the water from Scooby’s tub. She passed the empty tub to her mother and then started gathering all their loose papers, which went into her backpack. Marcie pulled out a heavily padded box for their model of the missionary settlement, since it was the most fragile part of their exhibit. Together the girls lowered the model into the box.

“I guess I got here too late too late to see your project,” a rumpled man with thinning hair said. Marcie’s head whipped up to stare at him.

“Dad… I didn’t think you could make it,” Marcie said, surprise etched across her face. “Velma, I know you know my father, but Angie, please meet my father, Winslow Fleach. Dad, this is Angie Dinkley, Velma’s mom.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Angie grinned, offering him a hand. He shook it absent-mindedly, attention still focused on his daughter. “Everyone in our family loves Marcie and the effect she’s had on Velma.”

“I didn’t think I’d be able to get away from Creepy Spooky Terror Land, but coverage came in earlier than expected,” Winslow explained, adjusting his glasses the exact same way Marcie always did. Angie realized it must be a learned behavior and wondered how many generations the tic went back. “I drove over as fast as possible, but I guess I missed it.”

“We’re not gone yet,” Marcie said. “I can explain anything you’d like about our work.”

“And now you have the added benefit of knowing you’re listening to an award winning presentation,” Velma added. She hoisted up the science fair trophy. “Marcie’s the only reason we won.”

“I’m not the only reason,” Marcie protested, but she accepted the trophy. Turning back to her father she smiled nervously. “So, would you like to hear about our project?”

“Of course,” Winslow said, “that is, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“None at all,” Velma insisted. She quickly unpacked the model. “Marcie, why don’t you start?”

“Okay,” Marcie began. She leaned against the table and grinned at Winslow and Angie, clearly excited to explain their work. While Angie had read parts of the poster earlier and gotten a synopsis earlier, she hadn’t heard any of the details. “We started out with the question: what was life like back in Crystal Cove during the initial missionary settlement?”

Angie beamed as she listened to Marcie’s explanation. She was impressed by her loquacity, but it was Velma who made her proud. Normally, her daughter naturally took over the spotlight in any conversation, as she was logical, concise, and charismatic. However, today she was focused on backing Marcie up and supplementing her presentation, content on allowing her friend to shine instead. This was the first time Angie had ever seen her daughter not only willingly share attention, but happy to do so. That might mean she finally felt like she was getting enough attention and affection she no longer needed to hog it all. More importantly, her actions meant Velma was growing up. Angie loved the woman her little girl was turning into, but for now she’d enjoy the transition.


	6. Prom

Last year Angie had been able to tell whenever Velma was working on her prom plans because she did it with boisterous abandon. No one in the house had been able to ignore the long and involved process it took Velma to choose her dress, hair, makeup, corsage, and even the dinner plans because she loudly talked about it to herself constantly in the weeks leading up to the dance. Angie didn’t think she consulted Shaggy once during the entire process and honestly she had never thought the pair a good match. Shaggy had never seemed comfortable when Velma pursued him and once they did start dating she simply steamrolled over his opinions in an effort to improve him. One of the first things Angie had learned about people was that change had to come from within; it couldn’t be imposed. Hopefully Velma had learned that by now.

This year things were different. Now Angie realized Velma was working on her prom plans, or at least thinking about Marcie, when she got quiet. It was different from her typical quiet, instead devoid of her typical confidence or teenage angst, and if left alone Velma developed a shy smile when she thought no one was looking. Angie didn’t push and let Velma plan in secret as she could see just how vulnerable her daughter was about the dance this year. 

Instead she let Madelyn press her older sister for details and simply made certain she was around whenever the girls typically interacted. After all, she still wanted to know what Velma was doing and this way her daughter didn’t screech or close up on her the way she typically did. Really the only downside with this plan was that Madelyn didn’t have enough experience asking the right sort of probing questions. Sometimes it left Angie frustrated enough she wanted to tear out her hair and take over the interrogation—excuse her, conversation—and do it herself. However, she also knew that once she did that Angie burned her bridge to Velma and she was loath to do that. So she did her best to piece things together with what she was able to glean from Velma’s vague answers and extrapolate the rest.

Angie had learned that the gang and Marcie planned to go to prom as a group. She didn’t know if that meant Scooby was renting a fancy collar or what, but Madelyn had confirmed that he was going as well. They were using the Blake family limo instead of renting one, which was an economical choice all things considered. Daphne had made dinner reservations somewhere, but Velma didn’t specify. Since it was one of the girls who made the reservation Angie assumed it would be some place classy with gluten free options, since they wouldn’t forget about Marcie’s dietary restrictions. It might be a bit pricy, since Daphne picked the place, but skipping transportation fees would soften things. There had been no mention of renting hotel rooms, which didn’t mean anything, but that didn’t seem Velma’s style.

The night before prom Angie hid all of her daughter’s turtlenecks in a storage locker at the Spook Museum after Velma went to bed. That way her daughter couldn’t cover her beautiful orange dress the way she had last year. By the time the limo arrived she had already taken several dozen photos of Velma, much to her chagrin. The teen was ready to hop in the vehicle as fast as she could. However, the limo door swung open too far and revealed, much to Angie’s delight, that everyone else was already inside. With a manner resembling Delilah Blake in full marine mode, Angie ordered the teens out of the car for photos.

“Mom, if we don’t leave right now we’re going to be late to our dinner reservations,” Velma insisted. Angie ignored her. “Daphne’s got us on a tight schedule.”

“Oh, I’m certain she left enough time for a few photos,” Angie said cheerfully, handing her camera off to Dale so that she could rearrange the teens as she liked. Daphne started to protest as well, but when Angie pushed her into Fred’s chest and positioned his hands respectfully on her hips she simply smiled and shrugged.

“I’m sure a couple of photos won’t hurt,” Daphne admitted. “We can just have Jenkins speed a little if need be.”

“That’s the spirit!” Angie agreed. She towed Shaggy and Scooby over by Fred then maneuvered Velma next Daphne. Marcie moved to stand just to the left of Velma and slightly behind her without any prompting. Angie winked at her. “Glad to see someone’s paying attention.”

At that Marcie ducked her head and adjusted her glasses. Velma rolled her eyes and leaned back into the other girl, which seemed to steady Marcie.

“So like, what do you want us to do now, Mrs. D?” Shaggy asked, scratching Scooby’s head.

“Just stand there and look pretty, Shaggy. Oh, and don’t forget to smile,” Angie said. She took the camera back from Dale and snapped half a dozen photos, some with flash and some without as the sun was rapidly setting and she didn’t know which would look better. The group looked blinded by all the light.

“Ooo, you should take couples photos!” Madelyn squealed, clapping her hands. Angie beamed; delighted her daughter beat her to the suggestion. “Oh please, everyone looks so pretty!”

“Sounds good to me,” Daphne said. “Freddie?”

“Whatever you say, Daphne,” Fred shrugged.

“But Fred and Daphne are the only couple here,” Velma protested. Marcie bit her lip and took a step back. Velma turned and looked at her morosely.

“Ah contraire, Velma, Scooby and I are a couple of cool guys,” Shaggy said, unexpectedly coming to the rescue. “I’d love to get some photos of us best buds in fancy dress. Mom and Dad were too busy to see us off, so we don’t have any photos. Besides, you both look great and it’d be swell if there were photos of just the two of you looking great together.”

“Yeah?” Velma asked, looking unconvinced. However, Angie couldn’t help noticing how Velma’s hand found its way into Marcie’s hand as Shaggy’s suggestion.

“I think it’s a great idea and I’d like shots of just the girls and then the guys,” Angie said. She raised her camera. “The sooner you do it, the sooner I’ll let you on your way.”

No one protested after that. In fact, Velma and Marcie looked to be the happiest when it came time for their couple’s photo. Velma’s arms slipped around Marcie’s waist and she leaned her head against Marcie’s shoulder. Marcie originally put her arms around Velma’s neck, but move her hands to the other girl’s arms when Angie complained they were obscuring Velma’s face. Both girls wore soft happy smiles without any prompting. 

If Angie were using a disposable camera she would have filled the roll with just photos of them. When she finally lowered her camera the girls slowly separated. Velma looked like she was ready to cry and unexpectedly hugged her mother. Angie took it in stride and simply hugged Velma back, staying silent when she whispered ‘thanks Mom’ into her shoulder. She knew it would embarrass Velma if she acknowledged it.

“Oh this reminds me of dancing with Enrique Andelusossa,” Angie sighed as she released her daughter.

“Who’s that, Mom?” Velma asked.

“Oh, just a boy I knew one summer when I was in the Yucatan,” Angie said dismissively. “It was when I was about your age, long before I met your father. Haven’t looked at another man twice since Dale became a Dinkley.”

“Your father changed his name?” Marcie asked.

“Yeah. What, you expected her to take his?” Velma asked. Marcie shrugged, but it was clear she hadn’t really expected that either. Angie tried not to laugh at her confusion.

“All right, I’ve kept you long enough. Go have a nice dinner,” Angie said, dismissing the group.

The group piled back into the limo, clearly surprised Angie had only delayed them by ten minutes, and drove away. She would have kept them longer, but Angie still had a busy night ahead of her and she needed to get ready. Turning to Dale and Madelyn Angie kissed her husband and then told her daughter that she could order whatever she wanted for dinner, but she had to do it ASAP because Angie was on a deadline. Then Angie head inside and made a beeline for her room. She changed into her little black dress, which was far more conservative than the one she had before giving birth to Madelyn, and did her make up. By the time she was back downstairs dinner had arrived, courtesy of Dale driving out and picking up burgers, so Angie sat down to a quick meal with her family.

“Mads, you can stay up late if you’d like tonight, but I expect you in bed by midnight. Dad will enforce it,” Angie said, glancing between her daughter and husband as if that would make them both follow her demands. Dale might commonly be the parent to hand out punishments in this family, but they usually had to be backed up by Angie. He was a total pushover for his girls.

“Of course, Mom,” Madelyn agreed, eyes shining. Normally she was expected to be in bed by ten, eleven at the latest, and she wasn’t about to push her luck.

“Have a nice time, dear,” Dale said. He leaned in and kissed Angie gently.

“I will,” Angie promised before reapplying her lipstick.

“Still, don’t you think you should have told Velma what you were planning?” he asked.

“Oh, she’ll find out soon enough,” Angie laughed. With a final goodbye she got in her car and headed out to the high school gym.

When she arrived the dance hadn’t quite started. Principal Quinlan met her at the door and gave Angie a quick run down of the dances rules. Then she thanked her for donating her time and ushered her into the dance. Angie smiled and took a lap around the gym, examining how the prom committee spruced things up for the big dance. Angel Dynamite was up on the stage setting up a sweet sound booth to DJ the evening’s dance. Angie briefly stopped to talk with her as the woman checked her connections. By the time students started filtering into the gym everything was ready.

“Mom?” came Velma’s strangled cry, causing the students between them to part like the sea, mostly to get a better look at the unfolding drama. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m chaperoning, sweetie,” Angie said, smiling sweetly. “Principal Quinlan sent out an email a month ago stating that they needed extra help, so I volunteered.”

“I can’t believe you agreed,” Velma said, covering her face with her hands. “Actually, I can, but do you realize how embarrassing this is for me?”

“What do you have to be embarrassed about? It’s not like you’re going to be macking on anyone at the dance,” a stout boy with shaggy brown hair said. His skinny friend with a crew cut guffawed.

“Yeah, that’d have to mean a boy found you hot,” the beanpole added. The boys grinned at each other and high fived.

“Gary, Ethan grow up,” Daphne growled. “After all, it’s not like any girls agreed to go with either of you.”

“Yeah, but that’s because we decided to go stag,” Gary shrugged. “There’s always enough drama at prom that some hot girl breaks up with her boyfriend and needs a little comforting. Say Daph, has Fred been willing to talk about anything other than traps recently?”

“You two are disgusting,” Marcie said.

“Look who’s talking, Hot Dog Water,” Ethan shot back. “I can’t believe you bothered to show your face here without a paper bag.”

“Enough!” Angie snapped as Velma opened her mouth. She wanted to nip this fight in the bud before her daughter did something regrettable. Not that she’d feel particularly sorry if anything happened to Gary or Ethan, but she didn’t want Velma suspended. She pointed at the instigators. “You two scat. If I catch you causing any more disruptions you two will be banned.”

The boys grumbled a few nasty things under their breath, but they walked away from the group. Angie turned to the others and smiled at them. Most of the gang had relaxed, but Velma still glared after the awful boys.

“Try to have fun, darling, this is your last high school dance,” Angie said. She cupped Velma’s cheek with her hand for a moment.

“I don’t know how I’ll manage that with you hovering,” Velma grumbled.

“I promise you’ll barely notice I’m here,” Angie laughed. She bustled away to keep an eye on the rest of the dancers. Maybe if she gave Velma a little space she’d loosen up enough to enjoy herself.

That didn’t happen. Instead Velma and Marcie awkwardly leaned against a wall watching their classmates dance. Velma looked absolutely rigid and ignored Marcie’s attempts to engage her in conversation. She looked like she wanted to melt into the wall as Marcie grew increasingly concerned. The rest of the gang was of no help, as Daphne and Fred were actually cutting loose on the dance floor, while Shaggy and Scooby wrecked havoc on the buffet table. The worst part was that no matter where she was in the room, whenever Angie glanced over at her daughter she made eye contact with her. Velma was overly aware of her presence.

Eventually Angie made her way back onto the stage next to Angel Dynamite. There wasn’t much she could do to improve the situation for Velma, but there was one thing that Angel could. She hoped it would be enough for Velma’s mood to lighten. If it did she imagined Marcie would also be able to have more fun.

“Hey, things are certainly swinging,” Angel greeted her. Angie settled against one of the speakers.

“They are,” Angie agreed, “but I don’t think everyone’s having as much fun as I would have hoped.”

“Yeah, I was noticing your baby girl doesn’t seem to be as much in the spirit as she would have liked,” Angel nodded. “She’d been looking forward to this for months. Used to talk about it with me at K-Ghoul, but she’s gone all wooden.”

“You might be able to help her loosen up and cut a rug.”

“I’m listening.”

“I noticed you haven’t played the Hex Girls yet. They’re Velma’s favorite band. I know half their songs by heart because she regularly plays them loud enough to rattle the entire house. If anything could get her grooving it would be them.”

“Gotcha sugar,” Angel grinned. She picked up an LP and pulled the jacket off. “I don’t normally like taking requests, most of the kids have trash opinions, but I’ll do you this solid. Velma’s been good to me and it was big of her to forgive me for not being straight with her. I’m happy to make her big dance better any way I can.”

“Thank you,” Angie said. 

However, she wasn’t able to still around and see if the new music selection had the desired effect because she caught Gary and Ethan pouring alcohol into the punch. Dr. Luis de Potrillo confiscated the spiked punch, while Angie marched the trouble makes down to Principal Quinlan’s office dragging them by the ear. Once there she explained what she caught them doing and then had to assist the principal fill out the all the tedious suspension paperwork. She wasn’t able to return to the dance until security, Deputy Bucky filling in for the night, arrived to escort them off the premises.

When she returned Angie immediately ducked behind some decorations to avoid detection. That hadn’t been her initial plan, but she hadn’t really expected Velma to start dancing in her absence. Yet there Velma was, dancing with abandon alongside the rest of Mystery Incorporated to the Hex Girls’ recent pop hit, Good Bad girls. She seemed really into it and from the way the whole group seemed to be rocking out Angie assumed they had been at this for at least a few songs. 

Then Angel put on a slow song and about half the dancers left the floor. Marcie and Velma were not among them. Instead they swayed together near a corner of the gym out of the limelight, uninterested in drawing attention. Marcie cradled Velma to her chest with her eyes shut, while Velma grasped Marcie’s shoulders and smiled at her. They seemed lost in their own world. Angie hadn’t thought to get a picture of Velma dancing earlier, but now she remembered she had a camera. They weren’t great shots at this distance and lighting, but she thought a few of the photos would turn out okay; if for no other reason than the subject matter was so photogenic.

The dance had nearly cleared out by the time the official ending rolled around. Still, Principal Quinlan cut the music and announced it was over at eleven on the dot. Since the gang was still there Angie moseyed on over to them to check in on their plans for the rest of the evening. 

"Do you need a ride home, sweetie?" Angie asked, Velma.

"No, I'm spending the night at Daphne's," Velma said, shaking her head. "I asked Dad and he agreed ages ago."

"Oh, of course. I must have forgotten," Angie said. She made a mental note to have a long conversation with Dale about telling her all pertinent information about their daughters. "Will you all be staying there?"

"Just the girls," Daphne said. "Mom and Daddy refused to let the boys spend the night, so we're dropping Freddie off at Shaggy and Scooby's place. Then it'll be an all girls sleepover!"

"And we'll catch the tail end of the Van Ghoul marathon," Shaggy laughed, elbowing Fred in the chest.

"Sounds like you have a good plan. Just be sure that you all think out any decisions you make and that you properly protect yourselves," Angie said. She was trying to be a properly supportive mother, but she didn't want any of the teens making hormone fueled decisions they'd regret later. 

"Mom!" Velma yelped, blushing furiously. Marcie squeezed her shoulder, but Angie could see a dusting of pink along her cheeks as well. 

"No problemo, Mrs. D, Scoob and I are always prepared," Shaggy laughed. He and Scooby produced pairs of oven mitts seemingly out of nowhere and put them on. "We are ready for any pizzas unexpectedly needing to come out of the oven."

"Roasts too!" Scooby added. They fist bumped with their oven mitts.

"Alright, have a good night," Angie said. "Is your ride here yet?"

Daphne looked up from her phone. "Yep, Jenkins just texted me to say he's outside, ready whenever we are."

Everyone wished Angie a goodnight then piled into the limo. Angie watched as they drove away and hoped they all stayed safe. At least the prom hadn't been crashed by any monsters, though that made her worry the limo would be accosted on their way home. Somehow the gang drew monsters to them like a magnet. 

She drove home without incident. Once there Angie found Madelyn in bed reading. She wished her little girl goodnight and reminded her to actually go to sleep soon. Madelyn promised she would. By the time Angie made it to her own bedroom Dale was already tucked in and asleep. So obviously she woke him up and made him have a long conversation with her about information flow and how it all needed to be funneled to her, especially concerning their daughters. Dale sat through Angie's speech silently with his eyes half shut.

"Well, what do you have to say?" Angie demanded when she finished. 

"Velma asked me because she didn't want you obsessing. I agreed. She's growing up, Ange, and she doesn't need you hovering or second-guessing her every decision. Especially over something fairly innocent like a girls sleepover," Dale yawned. "She's our daughter and she's got a good head on her shoulders. She knows what we've taught her and she's gotten into a heck of a lot less trouble this year. Go to sleep and stop worrying."

Angie wanted to argue some more, but Dale's points were valid. Velma was making smart decisions and it seemed unlikely she'd get up to anything with Marcie at Daphne's house. If she did, that was her choice and Angie believed Velma would be responsible. Besides, Marcie genuinely cared about Velma. Angie didn't think she trusted anyone else to respect and value her daughter as much as Marcie did. As she fell asleep Angie thanked the stars Velma wasn't dating Shaggy anymore.


	7. Talk

“I am so proud of my little valedictorian!” Angie crowed, pulling her daughter into an inescapable hug. Velma squirmed, but all that did was make Angie tighten her grip. “That was such a wonderful speech!”

“Oh, come on, Mom,” Velma laughed, continuing her efforts to extract herself. “It wasn’t that great. I mean, all I really did was piece together what the gang thought were the most valuable lessons from high school and made Marcie edit it into something that sounded halfway coherent.”

“I dunno, V, I think your line about valuing your friends because they’re worth their weight in platinum, but always check for a mask line was a good one,” Marcie chuckled. She reached out and flipped Velma’s tassel to the correct side of her mortarboard. “Pretty certain that line was all you, Dinkley.”

“Don’t think for a second that I forgot about my salutatorian!” Angie laughed. She let go of Velma with one arm only to snake it around Marcie’s shoulders, which pulled the tall girl down into a stoop. Unsurprisingly, this got Velma to stop struggling. She was always far more willing to suffer through her mother’s affection when Marcie was trapped in it as well. Angie milked this to her advantage because Marcie never seemed to mind the attention. “I am proud of both of you!”

“Thanks Angie,” Marcie said. To Angie’s surprise and delight both girls hugged her tightly. Then while she was momentarily stunned, Velma pulled away and took Marcie with her.

“We’d be willing to hang out and chat with you longer, Mom, but we’re already late to the graduation celebration,” Velma called out over her shoulder. “For once we’re actually invited to a school thing, so we’d really like to go. Don’t worry, we’ll do breakfast together, Mom. Promise!”

With that the girls took off their robes and made a break for the beach. As Angie watched they met up with Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, and a few other kids she vaguely recognized before they disappeared out of view. She was happy they seemed so excited, but also disappointed.

“But I didn’t even get any pictures,” Angie grumbled to herself.

“No worries, Mom, I got loads!” Madelyn said, nearly crashing into Angie in her haste to hand over the camera. “Dad gave it to me when he had to run to the bathroom. So, I got photos of Marcie with her Dad and photos of you and Velma.”

“Did you get any of the three of us?” Angie asked, carefully flipping through the digital selection. She didn’t want to accidentally delete any of the precious pictures. The answer was self-evident as she switched through. She paused to grin at the first picture of Velma and Marcie hugging her before Angie realized what was happening.

“I even got Velma to take some silly shots with me,” Madelyn laughed. She snatched the camera back and found what she was looking for in less time than it took Angie to find the camera’s menu. “See?”

“I do,” Angie smiled. Velma and Madelyn were making incredibly silly faces in the photo Madelyn pointed her to. However, she liked the shot right after it where Velma, Madelyn, and Marcie were hugging and smiling much better. That was going in the end of the year newsletter.

“What did I miss?” Dale asked. He ambled over to them still clutching his stomach.

“The girls,” Angie said. Lunch hadn’t sat well with him at all today. She knew he shouldn’t have eaten the shrimp taffy Shaggy offered him on the way over to the Tiki Tub. It wasn’t that food ever had time to go bad around them, but their standards on what was edible was so low that that their fair could be quite hard on stomachs not made out of cast iron.

“Then I think we should go home, Ange,” Dale sighed. “I think I need to spend more time in a private toilet.”

“Eww, Dad, you’re gonna stink up the whole house,” Madelyn groaned, holding her nose.

“Luckily we have two well ventilated bathrooms, so you should be fine,” Angie said, pushing her daughter toward the car. “Now if I remember correctly, you have to go home and study for your Español oral and geography exam. Just because Velma’s done with school doesn’t mean you can skip out on your last week or your finals.”

“But Mom,” Madelyn whined.

“No buts,” Angie said firmly. That was the end of that.

Velma didn’t get home until the next morning. Angie knew because she waited up all night for her. At first she ignored the delinquency because it was graduation night and kids will be kids, but at 3AM she called the sheriff. He was of no help whatsoever and insisted that Velma was just being a typical teen, even though Velma was anything but, and refused to do anything. Angie sincerely hoped he was right for once because otherwise her daughter was lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

When Velma did finally get home she came in through the kitchen door as the sun was rising. She smiled and waved before silently shutting the door, which told Angie that Marcie had probably dropped her off. Whatever the case, Velma was caked with sand and her orange dress blouse looked absolutely ruined. When Velma had said she was going to the beach for a party Angie hadn’t expected her to swim in some of her best clothes.

“Where have you been, young lady?” Angie demanded.

“Out. Mostly on the beach with Marcie and the gang,” Velma said. She absentmindedly brushed off her knee. “Originally I had hoped to spend the night at Marcie’s and call to let you know, but at the party the supposed living embodiment of a forest fire crawled out of the class bonfire and terrorized everyone. Before you ask, no it was just some creep in the mask and we spent the whole evening chasing him down after he robbed everyone of their jewelry. Definitely not a money making monster, as tourists don’t actively liked being robbed.”

“I wasn’t going to complain about your mystery solving tonight,” Angie said gently. This might be her daughter’s last case at home.

“Anyway, he had moved into the Man-Crab’s old lair and it was a pain fighting him there, but we finally caught him. Half the night just took ensuring we returned the loot to their proper owners. You wouldn’t believe how many of our classmates were ready to claim other people’s belongings,” Velma finished. “I’m bushed, but I promised you breakfast. You ready now, Mom, or do you want to wait until later?”

“Why don’t you tell me about your adventure?” Angie suggested. She poured them both a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. There weren’t a lot of chances left to have an extended conversation with Velma before she left home. Even if mystery solving wasn’t Angie’s cup of tea, she’d be a fool to pass up on the opportunity to have a heart to heart with her daughter. “Tell me all about it.”

Less than a week after graduation the gang piled into the Mystery Machine and drove off. They were intent on spending the summer before college road tripping around the country and no one could stop them. The Blakes had tried the hardest to stop this trip from happening, but all that accomplished was alienating their youngest daughter. They got a postcard in the mail a week after the gang split announcing that Daphne and Fred married in Las Vegas. Nan and Barty both fainted at the news, but when Angie saw the wedding footage—Velma sent her a link to an archived stream of it, which Madelyn got working for her—she thought it was tastefully done, if a bit rushed. After all, it wasn’t like they had werewolf Elvis preside over the ceremony.

At least Angie had the sense to realize this wasn’t the battle she wanted to fight and done her best to be supportive. In any case all the kids were headed to Miskatonic University at the end of the summer, which was the important thing. If they wanted to have a little fun and see the country before continuing their education, especially when it wouldn’t delay it, Angie didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t.

What did surprise her was that she ran into Marcie in town a few weeks after the gang had left. Angie had assumed she’d be out seeing the country with Velma and the others, yet here she still was in Crystal Cove. It was a little startling because she had become thick as thieves with Velma over the past year and she couldn’t believe Marcie had been left behind. Angie refused to believe the gang was so callous as to intentionally exclude her from their road trip. She had to find out what had happened.

“Marcie, what are you doing here?” Angie asked, forgetting her other errands in favor of ferreting out an answer.

“At the moment? I’m grocery shopping. More generally, I’m working for my dad and doing some summer reading while I prepare for college,” Marcie said, pushing up her glasses.

“Why didn’t you go on the road trip with the gang? I can’t believe Velma didn’t invite you,” Angie frowned. “I’m going to have a few strong words with that young lady on our phone call this week.”

“No, it’s not like that, Angie,” Marcie protested. “Velma asked me to come. In fact, she begged me to, but I said no.”

“Why not?”

“There are days where I can barely handle just hanging out with Velma. The thought of being trapped in a van with four other people and a Great Dane for three months gave me a panic attack. There was no way I could come along. Besides, I’m headed to MIT in August, which isn’t their destination.”

“I thought you and Velma wanted to go to the same school.”

“We did. I still do, but the colleges I was accepted to and received scholarships for didn’t overlap with any schools the rest of the gang got into. Velma had to make a choice and she chose to go to school with them over me.” Marcie shrugged like it didn’t bother her, but Angie could see she still hurt over the decision. “We’ll just have to go to grad school together. I’m thinking Harvard or possibly Berkeley for that.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” Angie said. She hugged Marcie tightly and the gangly girl responded with more fervor than either of Angie’s daughters ever did. Marcie did a good job of making Angie feel wanted.

“It could be worse,” Marcie continued in an overly chipper tone. “Our schools are close enough visitation is possible and we’ve already been skyping every night Velma has an internet connection. I already miss her terribly, but this’ll be good practice for the school year. Plus, since Thanksgiving break is too short for any of us to come home, V’s already made me promise to celebrate it with them. They’ve got a house rented for the year, so it should be a good deal.”

“Are you coming home for winter break?” Angie asked.

“Oh yeah. I’ll be riding home with the gang, since they’re doing a straight three-day drive. I can handle that much togetherness.”

“Then you come have dinner with us. I insist,” Angie said before Marcie could put forth any protests. “You’ve said it yourself that Winslow can’t cook, least I can do is have a nice hot meal waiting for you and Velma when you get in. We can have a welcome home party!”

“Okay, Mrs. D,” Marcie laughed. “If you really want to do it, I’m certain Dad and Velma will also love it.”

“Of course I do,” Angie insisted. “I promise, it will be a nice, fun, and relaxing get together. I know neither of you girls like it when I make a big fuss.”

Angie was as good as her word. As much as her urge to build the welcome home party increased the longer Velma was away at school, Angie resisted the temptation. Instead she poured her focus onto her younger daughter, which Madelyn bore better than Velma ever did, but by the time December rolled around she too was asking when Velma would get home, if only because it meant Angie would stop putting her under a microscope. There was only so much helicopter parenting a high school sophomore could handle.

When the familiar green and teal van finally pulled into the Dinkleys’ driveway everyone burst out of the house to welcome them home. Angie and Madelyn mobbed Velma the moment she emerged from the van, while Marcie received an awkward hug from Winslow. After Dale also got a hug from Velma he carried the girls’ bags into the house.

“You’re finally home, I can’t believe it!” Madelyn cheered. “Mom’s been driving me up the wall since you left, I’m so happy you’re back. What took so long?”

“Finals. Universities like to schedule them as late into December as possible,” Velma explained. “We actually got lucky and were able to leave earlier than most because Daphne and Fred both had all their exams immediately during finals week, while Shaggy and Scooby’s classes mostly avoided cumulative finals.”

“What about you? How did your exams go?” Angie asked.

“She aced them, as expected,” Marcie grinned, sliding an arm around Velma’s shoulders. “Her chemistry final’s results were posted last night and she broke the curve.”

“That’s Velma for ya,” Madelyn laughed. So you’re all done and just get to hang out for a month?”

“I still have a paper to submit for my history class, we had that in lieu of a final, then I’ll be done,” Velma said. “It’s basically done, and I’ve submitted a copy, but I need to do a final editing. That can wait until tomorrow though, it’s not due until 11:55pm eastern time.”

“So we can focus on feeding you two now and hearing about your adventures,” Angie concluded.

Angie went a little overboard making dinner. She not only made a lamb roast, but also cooked a turkey and pulled out the good china. She excused her behavior to herself with the argument they were celebrating and it was rare they had adult company. Despite traveling together in tight quarters for several days Marcie and Velma sat next to each other at the table. Angie took the other seat next to Velma and Madelyn claimed the seat across from her. This left Dale at the opposite end of the table between Marcie and Winslow, but Angie wasn’t about to trade places with him. Besides, Dale and Winslow had become dad friends and were able to occupy themselves.

Much of dinner was Velma or Marcie telling stories about their respective campuses. Velma’s stories were honestly more enjoyable for Angie because she knew more of the cast and were less focused on engineering jokes, which only made Velma laugh, but it was nice watching Velma watch Marcie talk. She had her soft happy smile and could easily take a run at Madelyn’s nickname, Doe Eyed Dinkley, with that pure adoration on her face. It was the same expression Angie saw on her own face in her wedding photos and on Dale’s from time to time. If that wasn’t love, Angie would drive her tour bus around debunking her own spook museum.

Afterward the dads decided to pull out some of Dale’s jazz records and started playing them in the living room. Madelyn grabbed Marcie and dragged her into the kitchen, announcing that it was finally time to break out the gluten free gingerbread dough so that they could make cookies. Angie had bought special fantasy and Halloween cookies specifically for Marcie to make weirdly fantastical holiday cookies tonight. Ever since Madelyn found out about this plan she’d chomped at the bit for the chance to make them.

Angie moved to follow them into the kitchen, intent on joining the fun, but Velma stopped her. In surprise, she turned to her elder daughter. Velma jerked her head at the stairs and started up them. Angie followed her without question, sensing that privacy was required. Whatever Velma wanted was just to be shared between the two of them and that was something Angie could never pass upon.

Once they entered Velma’s room, untouched saved for dusting, Angie shut the door. Velma offered her mother the desk chair and sat down on her bed. One deep breath later and Velma was up and pacing. Her shoulders were tight, knuckles white, and she was grinding her teeth. Angie wanted to say something, anything, that might calm Velma down, but past experience had taught her all that would do was antagonize her further. 

She couldn’t imagine what had upset Velma so much. Dinner had gone without a hitch and everyone downstairs was relaxed. Angie hadn’t recounted anything particularly embarrassing about any of the girls, nor had Velma lost her temper. Taking a moment to play back the last few minutes Angie would categorize Velma’s behavior as nervous, not angry or frustrated, before their ascent, which made her current behavior even more bazaar.

“Mom, I have something to tell you,” Velma said, unexpectedly turning on her heel to face Angie. “It’s important and difficult and I need you to not interrupt.”

“I’m listening,” Angie said. She covered her mouth with a hand, intent to muffle herself if she did try to interrupt Velma. She needed to hear whatever she had to say.

“Mom, I’m… I’m…” Velma sighed. She swiped a hand across her hairline, turned and looked up at where her skull lights used to hang before they made the trip out east, then refocused her attention on Angie. “Jinkies, this is way harder than I expected it would be. What I’m trying to say is that Marcie and I are… we’re… she’s my…”

“I know, sweetie,” Angie said, unable to hold back any longer.

“You do? Who told you?” Velma squawked.

“No one,” Angie said, effectively cutting off Velma’s temper before it could start. “I didn’t need anyone to tell me because I could see. It’s okay. Nothing has changed. I love you so much and there is no one I am prouder of than I am of you.”

“Mom,” Velma said starting to cry.

“Come here,” Angie said, holding out her arms. Velma raced into them in a way Angie couldn’t remember her doing since she was a small child. Velma buried her face in Angie’s shoulder and quietly sobbed. Angie had seen enough stress tears as a parent to recognize them for what they were and did what she typically did in these circumstances; she petted her daughter’s hair and talked to her gently. “You are my darling girl, Velma, and nothing you could ever tell me would ever make me love you less. As much as we butt heads over monsters and mysteries I will always give you my support. It means a lot to me that you finally feel comfortable enough to share this with me, sweetheart. Being a lesbian is simply another facet of being Velma Dinkley, like loving science and the color orange, or being terrified of clowns.”

“Actually,” Velma said, pulling half out of Angie’s embrace to reach under her glasses and wipe her eyes, “I’m bi.”

“Bi?” Angie asked in confusion.

“—sexual,” Velma finished for her.

“Oh,” Angie said in surprise. She made a few mental adjustments as the new information slid into place. “But what about Gibby Norton or Jason Wyatt?”

“Please Mom, they’re just gross,” Velma said, rolling her eyes. “Or did you forget about Shaggy?”

“No, not at all,” Angie said, grateful that had ended so abruptly. Though unfortunately, since Elliot had been permanently banned from the science fair circuit for his actions against Velma, Madelyn’s focus had shifted elsewhere. Telling Velma about it right now would not be a good idea. If Madelyn did ever start dating Shaggy as well, Angie would put her pension into dog biscuits if Scooby could break that relationship up as well. “However, I was right about Marcie being your girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” Velma beamed. It was the biggest smile Angie had seen all night and everyone had smiled constantly. “She’s absolutely perfect, Mom.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Angie smiled. “Ready to head back down before Madelyn uses up all the gingerbread?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Velma said. As Angie opened the door Velma stopped her with a question. “Mom, can you not tell anyone about this?”

“Of course, dear,” Angie said, surprised Velma even had to ask.

“Marcie and her father don’t talk about relationship stuff. Ever,” Velma said, looking uncomfortable. “And I do want Dad and Madelyn to know, but I have to be the one to tell them.”

“Understood.”

When they got back downstairs Velma made a beeline for the kitchen. A lot of the batter had already turned into reindeer, dragons, and zombies, but there was still some left. More importantly, they had been upstairs long enough for the first batch of cookies to finish baking, as Madelyn was just pulling them out of the oven. Marcie looked sharply at Velma, who nodded. She must have known about their conversation because she flashed Velma a large grin.

Velma latched onto her girlfriend’s arm and watched as Marcie and Madelyn scraped cookies off the sheet. When Marcie picked up a gingerbread gargoyle she seemed particularly proud of Velma leaned forward and bit off its head. This sent Madelyn laughing. Marcie glared at Velma, who chewed smugly, and then unexpectedly shoved the rest of the cookie in her mouth. Velma coughed and spat most of it back out into her own hand. Marcie grinned as she grabbed a star cookie. After a moment both girls started laughing.

Angie beamed as she watched her girls clown around with the rest of the batter. She was all she had ever wanted, her daughters happy, loved, and home. While Marcie hadn’t started out as hers, she was now. That would last even if her romantic relationship with Velma did not; they were friends for life. More importantly, they were family now and nothing would change that.

“Mom, do you want to make any?” Velma asked, offering Angie a cookie cutter after cutting out several skull shaped cookies of her own. Marcie grinned at her from above Velma’s head as Madelyn did the same from her side.

“I would love to,” Angie said, accepting the cutter.

As she pressed the cutter into the dough Madelyn had freshly rolled Angie realized she had the fox. She didn’t know if Velma had given her that one by accident, or if that was a commentary on her wily ways. In all honesty it was a shock Madelyn hadn’t caught onto their relationship yet, as Marcie had chosen to simply hug Velma’s waist instead of making any more cookies. Angie grinned when a thought occurred to her; perhaps Madelyn also already knew. After all, she had spent far more time simply hanging out with Velma and Marcie than Angie had and her girls were not half as discreet as they could be. They spent the rest of the evening making cookies and Angie hoped that whenever Velma finally told Madelyn about her relationship with Marcie she was around to overhear. That would be a real treat.


End file.
